Spray nozzle



June 12, 1962 c. N. HANDBERG 3,038,668

SPRAY NOZZLE FileclNov. 1.4, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 lNVEN-TOR CHRISTIAN N. HANDBERG BYQ I ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,038,668 SPRAY NOZZLE Christian N. Handberg, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, assignor to Jensen Fitting Manufacturing Limited, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, a corporation Filed Nov. 14, 1960, Ser. No. 68,748 1 Claim. (Cl. 239-554) This invention rel-ates to spray nozzles and, in particular to a spray nozzle which is adapted to be inserted within a tank, a barrel or the like for the purpose of directing a spray of fluid on the walls of the tank for cleaning purposes.

The present invention has as its object the provision of a spray head which is simple, economical, and compact in construction and which provides for the eflicient cleaning of the inside walls of tanks, barrels and the like.

The invention will be described by way of example with reference to two embodiments illustrated in detail in the accompanying drawings in which like reference numerals denote like parts in the various views and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation view, partly in section, of a spray head inserted in a tank;

FIGURE 2 is a detail section view of the spray head of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a section view taken along line 3--3 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a side elevation view, partly in section of a modified form of the spray head inserted in a barrel;

FIGURE 5 is a detail longitudinal section view of the spray head of FIGURE 4, and

FIGURE 6 is a section view taken along line 66 of FIGURE 5.

Referring now to the drawings, and in particular, to FIGURE 1, it will be seen that the spray head indicated generally by the reference character 10 is inserted through a manhole opening 11 in a large tank 12. This tank may be of any form of construction and for any purpose and the nature of the tank is not involved in the present invention.

Turning now to FIGURE 2, the spray head 10 illustrated in FIGURE 1 is shown in longitudinal section and may be seen to comprise a collar 13 which is threaded as at 14 so as to provide means whereby it may be connected to a source of fluid under pressure. Normally, the fluid will be water which may be used alone or, if desired, in combination with a detergent.

The collar portion 13 terminates in an end surface 15 and the collar is provided with a cylindrical bore constituting a flow passage for the fluid which is to be ejected from the nozzle. The internal cylindrical bore 16 of the collar 13 is provided with an inwardly extending shoulder 17 constituting an abutment with which is engaged a spider 18 secured to the end of a longitudinally extending stud 18a which extends away from the collar 13 and which is arranged coaxially with the bore 16 and secured in the collar by means of the engagement between the spider 18 and the projection 17.

A plurality of short, open ended, cylindrical members 19 are provided surrounding the stud and lying in end-to-end abutting relationship as may be seen in FIG- URE 2. The short cylindrical members 19 are held in coaxial relationship with one another by means of at least three longitudinally aligned and radially extending fins 20 which are carried by the stud 18w as may be more clearly seen in FIGURE 3.

The end 21 of the stud 18a is provided with external screw threads 22. An end cap 23 is provided with an internaly threaded socket so that it may be applied, at-

3,038,668 Patented June 12, 1962 "ice tached, and adjusted relative to the end 21 of the stud 18a as shown in FIGURE 2.

From FIGURES 2 and 3 it will be seen that each of the short, open ended, cylindrical members 19 is hollow and is provided with a central, entirely unobstructed, cylindrical bore 24 which is of substantially the same diameter as the cylindrical bore 16 of the collar 13. The fins 20 provide for longitudinal flow of fluid within the spray head constituted by the short, open ended, cylindrical members 19 and, accordingly, fluid under pressure entering the collar 13 may pass longitudinally through the entire extent of the head shown in FIGURE 2 without interruption.

Returning now to FIGURE 2, it will be seen that the adjacent ends 1960 and 19b of each pair of short cylindrical members 19 carry complementary means to define a multiplicity of separate circumferentially spaced spray nozzles each capable of directing a fluid spray radially of the spray head. The complementary means may be seen, in FIGURES 2 and 3, to constitute a smooth surface of revolution 25 carried by one end 1% of each cylindrical member 19 and, a multiplicity of closely spaced radially aligned notches 26 carried by the adjacent end 1% of an adjacent short cylindrical member 19.

The abutting notched and smooth surfaces 19a and 19b respectively define a multiplicity of separate, circumferentially spaced nozzles which will each direct fluid radially of the spray head in a spray form. The smooth surface of revolution 25 is a conical surface and the end 19m carrying the notches 26 is also a conical surface with the notches 26 being formed in the radially inner edge of the conical surface where it makes an acute angle with the adjacent internal wall of the short cylindrical member 19. Thus, each notch 26 defines a nozzle adjacent the inner wall of the short cylindrical member 19 in which it is formed and the spray is directed outwardly to the nozzles through a diverging annular space between the smooth surface of revolution 25 on end 19b of the short cylindrical member 19 and the surface 27 on end 1% of the adjacent short cylindrical member 19.

Returning now to FIGURE 1, it will be seen that there are shown arrows 28 which indicate the paths taken by the spray ejected from the spray head 1%.

It has been found that, in many instances, a more efficient cleaning of the walls of the tank 12 may be achieved if the spray is directed against the walls at an oblique angle with a small angle of incidence as shown at a in FIGURE 1. The reason for this is apparently that the fluid, impinging upon the surface of this angle, flushes the contaminating material off the surface whereas if the spray were directed against the surface at right angles or nearly at right angles, there would be a tendency for the spray to drive the contaminating material into more intimate con tact with the surface rather than to flush it away.

As a result, the apical angle of the conical smooth surface of revolution 25 associated with the end 19b of each short cylindrical member 19, will be selected so as to provide for the desired angle of incidence of the spray with respect to the wall of the tank which it is desired to clean. Clearly, tanks of different internal configuration will require different angles in the conical surfaces 25 and, as a result, a spray head 10 which is suitable for cleaning a tank such as that shown in FIGURE 1 may not be suitable for cleaning a different size, shape or type of tank. Similarly, it may be desirable that the apical angle of conical surface 25 which is associated with one short cylindrical member 19 may be different from the apical angle of the conical surface of revolution 25 associated with the next adjacent short cylindrical member 19. Alternatively, conditions may dictate that all of the apical angles of all of the conical surfaces of revolution 25 in any given spray head may be the same.

In order to ensure that a substantially uniform spray is distributed from each of the multiplicity of circumferentially spaced spray nozzles throughout 360 in a generally radial plane, each of the fins may be provided with a recess 29 over that portion of its length which lies adjacent the notches 26 internally of the spray head. Thus the edges of the fins 20 do not block off some of the notches 26 as would otherwise be the case.

Referring now to FIGURES 4, 5 and 6, an alternative embodiment of the invention will now be described.

In FIGURE 4, a spray nozzle 30 is indicated generally as being inserted within a barrel 31 through an opening 32 which is normally provided in such containers. The spray nozzle illustrated in FIGURE 4 embodies the principle of the invention as does the embodiment illustrated in FIGURES 1, 2 and 3. This spray nozzle, as shown in FIGURE 5, is provided with a collar 33 which is provided with screw threads as at 34 whereby the collar 33 may be connected to a suitable source of fluid under pressure. The collar 33 is provided with an internal cylindrical bore 35 which constitutes a flow passage for fluid entering the spray nozzle and the collar is provided with a longitudinal stud 36 which extends away from the collar 33 coaxially therewith. The stud 36 may, in this case, be conveniently secured within the collar by means of a supporting spider 37 which may be secured to stud 36 by any convenient means such as, for example, welding. The radially outer ends 37a of the arms of the spider 37 are also welded to the collar 33 and a convenient method of achieving this is to provide a series of apertures in the wall of the collar at those points which are contacted by the ends 3711 of the web 37. These holes may then subsequently be plugged by welding material which will adhere the ends 37a of the webs 37 to the wall of the collar 33 while, at the same time, plugging the holes to provide for a fluid tight flow passage within the hollow bore 35.

The collar 33 terminates at point 38 and, surrounding the stud 36, there are provided a plurality of short cylindrical members 39 each of which is provided, at one end, with a smooth surface of revolution and, at the other end, with a series of generally radially aligned notches as illustrated in FIGURE 6 by reference character 40. The short cylindrical members 39 may be held concentric and coaxial with the stud 36 by means of a suitable spider or fin arrangement comprising members 41 as shown in FIG- URE 6 or, alternatively, they may be held concentric with one another and with the stud 36 on the collar 33 by means of the mating engagement between the adjacent conical surfaces which will be described below.

As may be seen in FIGURE 5, the end 39a of the short cylindrical member 39 is provided with a conical surface of revolution bearing reference character 42. The end 39b of the next adjacent short cylindrical member 39 is provided with a similar conical surface 43 which, in addition, is provided with generally radially aligned notches bearing reference character as shown in FIGURE 6. The crests of the notches 40 lie on a conical surface which is similar to the conical surface 42 and the mating engagement between these two conical surfaces provides for the proper centering and coaxial alignment of the two adjacent short cylindrical members 39.

It will be observed that the apical angle of the conical surface 38 with which the collar 33 ends, differs from the apical angle of the conical surface 42 which defines the end of the first short cylindrical member 39. Thus, as seen in FIGURE 4, the arrows 44, indicating the spray which issues from the multiplicity of spray nozzles defined by the surface 38 and the adjacent notche 40 in short cylindrical member 39, emerge from the spray head 30 at a different angle from that of the arrows 45 indicating the spray issuing from the nozzles defined by the surfaces at the opposite end of the short cylindrical member 39. Similarly, the third set of circumferentially spaced spray nozzles indicated in FIGURE 5, at 46, may also be seen to follow a different path as is indicated by the arrows bearing the reference character 47 in FIGURE 4.

In the embodiments shown in FIGURE 5, the end cap corresponding to cap 23 in FIGURE 2 is shown at 48 and it is provided with a non-threaded aperture 49 coaxial therewith which merely is a sliding fit over the end of the stud 36. The end cap 48 is, in this instance, provided with a conical surface adapted to mate with the conical surface defining the end of the adjacent cylindrical member 39 and this conical surface is provided with a multiplicity of generally radially aligned notches in accordance with those shown in FIGURE 6, to provide for a multiplicity of circumferentially arranged spray nozzles. In addition, it is provided with a plurality, preferably four, although any other number would be suitable, of radially aligned notches shown in FIGURE 5 by the reference character 50. These slots 50 provide for a jet or spray of fluid to issue in a direction generally axially of the spray head 30. The fluid issuing from the slots 50 will be seen to cover the range lying between arrows 52 and 51 in FIGURE 4.

Finally, the end cap 48 is secured in position by a nut 52 which is internally threaded at 53 to engage external threads 54 carried by the end 55 of the stud 36.

As mentioned, the cleaning of different types of containers may require spray nozzles of differing spray characteristics, all of which may be provided by the invention disclosed herein. Thus as shown in FIGURE 1 a spray nozzle having a spray pattern as indicated by the arrows 28, is suitable for the purpose of cleaning the type of tank shown here, a tank such as a barrel may be more readily cleansed by a spray nozzle having a spray pattern such as that indicated by the arrows 44 to 52 inclusive, in FIGURE 4.

Both embodiments, however, provide for the definition of a multiplicity of separate, circumferentially spaced nozzles by the same means and accordingly, the present description is intended to be construed as illustrative of the invention rather than limiting. Minor modifications of the structure, proportion, and arrangement of parts is contemplated Within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the sub-joined claim.

What I claim as my invention is:

A spray head comprising a collar provided with means whereby it may be connected to a source of fluid under pressure, and having an internal bore constituting a fluid flow passage, a stud extending away from the collar and arranged coaxially with the bore and having a spider secured to one end and extending radially therefrom whereby said one end may engage an inwardly extending abutment in the bore and be retained therein, a plurality of short, open ended, cylindrical members surrounding the stud and held coaxially therewith by means of at least three radially extending fins on the stud, the short cylindrical members lying in end-to-end abutting relationship, each cylindrical member having an internal diameter substantially equal to the diameter of the bore in the core, a cap carried by the end of the stud remote from the collar and carrying means to engage the stud remote from the collar whereby the cap may be adjusted longitudinally of the stud, the cap having a surface adapted to tightly engage the adjacent end surface of the adjacent cylindrical member and, by adjustment longitudinally of the stud, to move each of the short cylindrical members into tight, contacting, end-to-end abutment with one another and with the collar, one end surface of each short cylindrical member being a smooth surface of revolution coaxial with the bore and the other end surface being conical, the apex pointing away from the collar, the conical surface having a multiplicity of closely spaced radially aligned notches in its radially inner edge, the cylindrical members being arranged so that the notched end of one member seats on that end surface of an adjacent cylindrical member which is a smooth surface of revolution thereby to define a multiplicity of separate,

5 6 circumferentially spaced spray nozzles each to direct a 1,126,614 Bustin Jan. 26, 1915 fluid spray radially of the spray head. 1,996,159 Kittredge Apr. 2, 1935 2,625,236 Rhinehart et a1. Jan. 13, 1953 References Cited in the file of this patent 2,380,938 Stewart t a1 Apr. 7, 1959 UNITED STATES PATENTS 5 FOREIGN PATENTS 391,175 McQuaid Oct. 16, 1888 7,338 Great Britain Oct. 7, 1915 

